Meshcore seems like a much better choice for messaging in dense-node environments. I tried to set up a Meshtastic network for my Burning Man camp this year, and since default builds have historically been crippled by retransmits, we made a concerted effort to give camps their own frequency slots.
While that ensured campmates could communicate, it unfortunately isolated us from the wider network—you had to choose one or the other. Also, regarding the UI: if you think Meshcore is bad, Meshtastic is worse. I spent most of my time teaching people how to navigate the clunky, overcomplicated, and inconsistent mobile apps. I’ll likely try building a custom app on top of Meshcore for this year.
I’d seriously been considering trying meshcore out, as I live on several hundred acres without cell service, and I’d like some means of communicating with my family. So far CB radios have not worked as they are large to carry day-to-day (particularly for the kid). This seemed like a solution - and fun to tinker with. Apparently not.
From what I've read, success depends a lot on line of sight. If you're on flat, open land, you'll likely see much better range than I did.
There's a neat tool in the MeshCore app (available in the web version[0], too) that shows line of sight between two points on a map. You can click the three dots in the upper right > Tools > Line of Sight. It will show you how good line of sight is between those two points, accounting for changes in elevation.
It's also possible a good repeater would make more of a difference. I'm hoping to hear feedback from other MeshCore users about that.
Sadly not flat and not open. But more far flung repeaters are an option as I have electricity further from the house.
However the TDeck being hard to use makes it unlikely the kid would carry it. And bad UX in general makes it hard on my wife. It was mainly the bad UX and lack of open source (no hacking for me) aspects that put a damper on things for me.
While that ensured campmates could communicate, it unfortunately isolated us from the wider network—you had to choose one or the other. Also, regarding the UI: if you think Meshcore is bad, Meshtastic is worse. I spent most of my time teaching people how to navigate the clunky, overcomplicated, and inconsistent mobile apps. I’ll likely try building a custom app on top of Meshcore for this year.
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